Dental Hygiene and the Registered Dental Hygienist

Historical Perspective
Dental hygiene was founded by Alfred C. Fones, DDS, as a preventive dental care specialty. Fones organized the first formal class for dental hygienists in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1913. As more and more dentists began to promote the importance of educating the public in preventive oral health care, demand for dental hygiene services grew.
Today, there are more than 120,000 licensed dental hygienists nationwide. And there are more than 250 colleges and universities that offer entry-level dental hygiene educational programs and more than 70 baccalaureate and master’s degree-completion programs.

Dental Hygiene Services
Registered dental hygienists are licensed oral health care professionals whose preventive services limit the extent of cavities and periodontal (gum) disease. They provide many services including cleaning teeth; taking X-rays; providing fluoride treatments; applying sealants; examining the condition of the mouth, teeth and gums; and educating patients to maintain optimal oral health. They are especially knowledgeable about the preventive aspects of oral health care and view prevention as their central focus.

Licensure Requirements
Dental hygiene is a licensed profession. A dental hygienist is eligible for licensure, which confers the RDH or LDH designation, after graduating from a nationally accredited educational program and successfully completing both a written national board dental hygiene examination and a state or regional clinical examination. Registered (licensed) dental hygienists practice according to the requirements of individual state dental practice acts.

Educational Settings
Dental hygienists receive their education in college-level programs at colleges and universities accredited by the American Dental Association Commission of Dental Accreditation. Each accredited program is at least two years in length, and usually includes general college-level class work before the dental hygiene portion of the curriculum begins, bringing the total class time up to a total of three years.

The curriculum includes a rigorous program of basic sciences such as chemistry and microbiology; dental sciences such as tooth development and oral pathology; and dental hygiene theory and practice such as pain control, nutrition, oral health education, preventive counseling and periodontology. The classroom study is complemented throughout the program by extensive clinical instruction supervised by dental hygiene faculty.

Practice Settings
While most registered dental hygienists practice in private dental offices, others provide services in hospitals; managed care organizations; federal, state and municipal health departments; primary and secondary school systems; private businesses and industry; correctional institutions; and private and public centers for pediatric, geriatric and other special-needs care.

Registered dental hygienists work as clinical practitioners, educators, researchers, administrators, managers, preventive program developers and consultants.

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